Tuesday, 11 June 2013

June 11, 2013 – FRANCE - A natural phenomenon more common for America, a tornado, has hit the South of France shocking locals and holidaymakers on the Côte d’Azur, the Mediterranean coastline. As thousands in Central Europe are struggling to cope with devastating floods which have already claimed the lives of at least 21 people, a tornado ripped through the French Riviera on Sunday morning. The violently rotating column of air and water formed off the coast not far from popular resort towns of Cannes and Nice. The phenomenon was observed from the Cagnes-sur-Mer commune in southeastern France, rising off to Villeneuve-Loubet and Antibes, reports Nicematin.com. So far, no damage or injury has been reported. The incident is being widely discussed on social networking services where users – some of them freaked out others rather thrilled – share videos and photos of the “tornado.” “OMG there was a mini tornado in my town today. In Nice!” tweeted user nicknamed Sachamallow. “There’s been a tornado in Cannes. I bet the end of the world is approaching! we’re all gonna die you, will see,” noted @Amaandarine. –RT

June 11, 2013 – GERMANY - Thousands of people left their homes in eastern Germany on Sunday as a dam burst on the swollen River Elbe and swathes of farmland were flooded in an attempt to spare towns, with meteorologists forecasting more rain. In Magdeburg, one of the oldest cities in eastern Germany and a regional capital, some 23,000 people were asked to evacuate as water levels in the Elbe rose to a record 7.48 meters,

June 11, 2013 – ALASKA - A weak eruptive activity has started from the volcano. Since last night, weak ash emissions have appeared from the central cone of the caldera of the volcano. The new activity is accompanied by a persistent steam plume and increasing volcanic tremor. So far there seem to be no lava flows or other significant eruptive processes. The new ash emissions are very diluted and reach about 200-300 m height. They were first observed on the Aviation camera of Perryville from last night at around 17-18h local time. AVO who has not yet reported about the ash confirmed to Blog Culture Volcan that the plume indeed contains very small amounts of ash, which pose no problems to aviation (for now). The volcano last erupted in 2008. –Volcano Discovery

Cape Girardeau's public works director Tim Gramling said two sinkholes on South Sprigg Street, near LaCroix Creek, continue to grow. A sinkhole in the creek is causing water to flood into the nearby Buzzi Unicem quarry.
Gramling said as the waters of the Mississippi River rose to above flood stage for the second time this spring, the problem worsened. He said one of the sinkholes on South Sprigg Street is about 50 feet in diameter and about 15 feet deep. A second sinkhole near the end of the bridge over the creek is 20 to 25 feet in diameter and is roughly 6 to 8 feet deep.
"And it's growing as we're talking," he said.
Gramling attempted to explain why the problem, which has closed a portion of South Sprigg Street indefinitely, developed.
The water erodes the soil, causing more sinkholes.
Gramling said employees from Buzzi Unicem are working to address the creek sinkhole. He said the company is damming the creek by the bridge, attempting to isolate the water and keep down the flow into the quarry.
"They're not shut down, but they're trying their best to keep the water down," he said.
City employees are monitoring the creek bridge.
"It hasn't been affected," Gramling said. "We keep an eye on it."
The city and Buzzi Unicem have attempted in the past to fill the sinkholes with rock and concrete, to no avail.
"You can put stuff in them and it just disappears and we've done that for several years," Gramling said. "If we filled the holes up, by tomorrow [the fill] would be gone."

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Continuous rain is paralyzing central European countries and bringing heavy flooding to Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and Austria. Meteorologist warn there is still no end in sight as more countries are declaring state of emergency. This is the worst flooding that hit central Europe in last decade and a record breaking flooding for many regions.
11 years after the worst flooding in 500 years hit Czech Republic, Czech capital Prague was flooded and paralyzed again on Monday, June 3, 2013. About 3000 people from low-lying areas were evacuated, schools were closed and public transport disrupted. Czech prime minister declared a state of emergency for most of the nation.
Heavy flooding was also reported in Austria as well as landslides. Germany, Switzerland, Poland and other central European countries